This was a game that had all the components for great sporting drama: a rivalry; an element of personal animus; a star defection; a crowd of 68,251; a Friday night showcase game. But it still lacked tension.

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In fairness, some of the expectation was punctured before the contest began when Jarrad Waite and Andrew Carrazzo were late withdrawals from an already depleted Carlton side. Collingwood, too, had its late outs in Nick Maxwell and Clinton Young, but save for the fact they both resided in the same area of the ground and left the callow backline forced to retool, the Magpies had more depth to cover them.

Carlton began brightly with a goal in the opening few minutes when Mitch Robinson straddled Tyson Goldsack's head, but then the Blues failed to goal again for an hour. For three quarters they kicked two. On a clear night.

AFL Round 7: Carlton v Collingwood

Collingwood never looked in doubt against Carlton, leading every quarter at the MCG, they finished the game 14.20.104 to 10.10.70 Photo: Pat Scala

Carlton was forced to manufacture what it could. At one point in the second quarter Mick Malthouse emptied the forward line, sent Lachie Henderson to defence and tried to run the ball in to a short forward line. Jeff Garlett was not the man to be able to entrust with this task in the way Eddie Betts might have been. But Malthouse had to try something.

Through the middle of the ground, the Blues had Dylan Buckley and Zach Tuohy trying to carry the ball and Andrew Walker playing loose, but while they ran the ball up the wings they had nothing inside 50 to kick to and no one to trap it in.

Collingwood, in contrast, ran in waves. Marley Williams, brought back into the team after one VFL game, showed his worth. He has a step in his game and a cleverness by foot. He was rusty and will improve, but he holds his own in the meantime.

Tom Langdon surprised even the coaches on Anzac Day when he reversed a tapering of his form and in this game he took that Anzac form further. He has an old head about his play, a calmness born of an assuredness that he can take his time because he trusts his skills. Partly this is because he has learnt that refusing to rush enables him to invariably make the correct decision.

Sam Dwyer, as a relative fringe player, also has that about him.

Dwyer was a creative presence on a wing for the three quarters he was on the ground before being subbed out in the third quarter with a pain in the knee that he had only just returned from injuring.

The main moment of worry and anxiety for Collingwood was not about the play at all but the visits to the bench by Travis Cloke to have his knee iced after he cracked it into Heath Scotland's head early on in a marking contest.

Still, after the misery of the first-round loss, Nathan Buckley's side is now 5-2 and entrenched in the top four with a week off. And, as perfunctory as much if it might have felt, it also beat Carlton.

2 comments so far

Good effort by the Pies. We might have gone on with it a bit more, and the last quarter was frustrating, but the signs are good. Jamie Elliott is a particularly impressive footballer, not least because of his ability to juggle the team-oriented things with his own flashes of brilliance. Also, out movement from back to attack looks more than a touch more potent with Marley Williams back in the side. As for Daisy, he looked miserable. I hope that he comes to enjoy his footy again, as much as the money it pays him, just let it not be against the black and white.

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Days to Come

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Here and There

Date and time

May 03, 2014, 3:19PM

The debacle at Carlton continues. It dates back to 1996 when it recruited Mick Maguane.. and then Sean Charles in '98. Since those days they have looked to "short term" fixes with both players and coaches. Even bringing Judd to Carlton in hindsight was a mistake. He had already won a Premiership and Brownlow. The hunger had gone (although his talent carried him) and his ideal that footy is not the most important thing in the world has run like a cancer through the club ever since. Young players with talent need to live breath and eat footy to win premierships. Then more recently sacking of a coach who was a club champion and was getting the most out of his list, to bring in a Collingwood coach who has bought with him assistants and $700 000 a year players who are taking the club backwards.Carlton needs to understand that the days of buying Premierships are over they need good modern football brains to re build the famous club. Smart, forward thinking recruitment is the key. Hawthorn and Geelong have managed to do it.It needs to start now.... or another dire 18 years will pass them by.